Pair, Portrait Paintings Depicting King George IV and Queen Caroline Circa 1800

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**Pair of Portrait Paintings Depicting King George IV and Queen Caroline, Attributed British School, Early 19th Century**
Oil on canvas … Read more **Pair of Portrait Paintings Depicting King George IV and Queen Caroline, Attributed British School, Early 19th Century**
Oil on canvas - laid to board and backed with wood panel.
Measures: 19" w x 26" h (frame), 11.625" w x 18" h (sight)

This finely executed pair of early 19th-century oil portraits, each laid to board and housed in dramatically carved and expanded giltwood frames, depicts King George IV and his consort Queen Caroline of Brunswick in regal and evocative settings. The paintings reflect the stylistic conventions of the British School during the Regency period and are attributed to an accomplished but as yet unidentified hand. Though the canvases have been laid down and reframed, the refinement of the brushwork and precision of detail across both compositions suggests a painter of considerable ability—possibly a follower or student of Sir Thomas Lawrence or John Hoppner, both of whom were active court portraitists during George IV’s reign.

In the first painting, George IV—then Prince of Wales—is shown standing in a richly appointed interior, dressed in the red and gold robes of the Order of the Garter. His hand rests authoritatively on a velvet-covered table beside the British Imperial State Crown, while a dramatic architectural backdrop with drapery and a glimpse of columned arcade evokes the grandeur of royal ceremony. The prince's red breeches and buff waistcoat are rendered in luminous tones, and his pose—with one hand on his hip and the other gesturing outward—conveys confidence and self-possession.

The companion portrait of Queen Caroline places her in a wooded landscape, dressed in an empire-line gown of ivory silk with soft folds flowing to the ground. A rich copper-toned sash girds her waist, while a large feathered headdress alludes to fashionable Regency court attire. Her expression is serene and dignified as she gazes slightly to the side, accompanied at her feet by a small spaniel, likely a King Charles breed, shown in mid-step—suggesting vitality and domestic loyalty. The dusky, romantic background reinforces the pastoral idealization of feminine virtue and beauty popular in late 18th- and early 19th-century portraiture.

Each painting measures approximately 11.625 inches wide by 18 inches high (sight), with the elaborately carved and gilded frames extending the dimensions to 19 inches wide by 26 inches high. Though not original to the canvases, the frames have been expanded with evident care by a skilled artisan, preserving the grandeur and scale appropriate to the subjects.

The likely identification of the sitters as George IV (1762–1830) and Queen Caroline (1768–1821) is supported by both physiognomy and regalia, resonating with known official portraits of the couple from the period surrounding their tumultuous marriage and George’s regency. This pairing presents a compelling and romanticized depiction of the royal couple at the height of their ceremonial image-making. See less